RAID & Servers

RAID data recovery

Using advanced engineering techniques, we can perform RAID data recovery from large capacity, enterprise grade storage devices such as RAID arrays, network attached storage (NAS) devices and storage area network (SAN) devices. These devices typically contain critical business data for companies that cannot afford to have their systems down for any length of time. Our expedited data recovery services allow businesses to be back up in running in no time after a data loss event.

Although RAID systems are typically implemented for data security reasons, no system is 100% secure. For example, if a virus attacks a RAID system with redundancy, it attacks all copies of the data rendering the entire system useless. At PCS, RAID data recovery is done by recovering data from individual failed disks and then reassembling it based on the type of RAID system.

Single level RAID 1

Single level RAID 1 is the simplest RAID configuration requiring just two disks of equal size. When data is written to a RAID 1 array, it is written to one disk and simultaneously copied or "mirrored" to a redundant disk. If one drive of a RAID 1 array fails, the system will continue to operate using the redundant disk.

Single level RAID 5

Single level RAID 5 is a RAID configuration that combines striping with redundancy. The striping portion of RAID 5 is very similar that of RAID 0, but the redundancy portion is quite different from RAID 1. RAID 5 systems create redundancy by calculating parity blocks and distributing these parity blocks among all disks in the array. A minimum of three disks is required for a RAID 5 system. The maximum number of disks is limited by the RAID controller. RAID 5 systems are very popular since they have the performance benefits of striping with the added security of redundancy. Even better is that the storage efficiency (the ratio of the RAID system capacity to the total capacity of all individual disks) is much higher than that of RAID 1 (which is 50%).

Multi-level RAID 0+1

Multi-level RAID 0+1 combines the performance enhancements of RAID 0 with the redundancy of RAID 1. A RAID 0+1 array is constructed by taking a RAID 0 array consisting of two or more disks and mirroring the entire array to a different array consisting of an equal number of disks. This creates a RAID 1 Super-Array consisting of two RAID 0 Sub-Arrays. RAID 0+1 is often referred to as a mirror of stripes because it operates by creating a mirror of a stripe set. Some people might refer to this configuration as a RAID 1+0 but this does not follow most industry standards. The standard multi-level RAID naming convention is to list the Sub-Array first and the Super-Array second.

Multi-Level RAID 1+0 (RAID 10)

Multi-Level RAID 1+0 (RAID 10) combines the redundancy of RAID 1 with the performance enhancements of RAID 0. A RAID 1+0 array is constructed by taking two or more RAID 1 Sub-Arrays and applying RAID 0 striping across these arrays to create a RAID 0 Super-Array. RAID 1+0 is often referred to as a stripe of mirrors because it operates by striping data across multiple mirrored sets. Some people might refer to this configuration as a RAID 0+1 but this does not follow most industry standards. The standard multi-level RAID naming convention is to list the Sub-Array first and the Super-Array second.

RAID 6

Single level RAID 6 is similar to RAID 5 in that it stripes data across many disks and distributes parity through out the disks. But instead of storing one set of parity data per block, RAID 6 stores two sets of parity data per block. As a result of this additional parity, RAID 6 requires a minimum of four disks to implement compared to three for RAID 5. This "dual distributed parity" allows for simultaneous loss of two drives in the system.

In-house RAID data recovery

If it's possible to bring the storage device in-house, recovery cost may be cheaper than going on-site to perform the recovery. Also, having the device in-house allows for use of our proprietary tools that cannot be taken on-site and therefor may allow a higher recovery success rate.

Remote RAID recovery

Under certain circumstances, one of our technicians may be able to connect to a customer's computer or server remotely to recover files from a logical issue with a RAID system. The technician will be able to determine if this is possible once the case is opened and relevant details are provided by the customer.

On-site RAID recovery

On-Site Recovery is mainly performed in extreme emergencies and when the device cannot be shipped or brought in-house due to size or confidentiality requirements. On-Site recovery is the least cost-effective route, so we recommend that the device is either brought in or shipped to us so that we can utilize all the proprietary recovery tools and therefore we can provide a higher recovery success rate.

Server data recovery

We can recover your crashed server using your own backup, and if a backup is not available, we will attempt to recover the data from the damaged hard drive and recover your server to a working condition so that you can continue your business as usual. Full recovery of your server environment depends on availability of required software such as Windows, Programs, and the recovered data if recovery was possible.

NAS

Network Attached Storage devices usually are made up of a RAID0, RAID1 (Mirroring), or RAID 5 array with a Linux operating system.

NAS devices are usually only connected to via Ethernet network. If you can't connect to your drive or you see a red or yellow light on, immediately power off the device and call us and we'll guide you through the process to bring it in for evaluation.

RAID data recovery

NAS data recovery

Mac recovery

Windows recovery

We can recover files from Windows computer that won't boot up, Blue Screen of Death, virus attack, and accidental deletion or operating system re-install.

Linux recovery

You have a dead Linux machine? No Problem!

Just power off the computer and call us and we'll guide you through sending it in for evaluation!

UNIX recovery

Is the apple stuck on your Macbook screen? Is the computer not booting up? Did you accidentally erase your files?

We can recover from most logical as well as physical failures from any Mac's including Macbook Air and Retina Macbook Pros with built in SSD Flash Drives.

VMFS (Virtual Machines)

It's easy to see the value of virtual machines from a business network standpoint. However, due to their complicated nature, data loss from virtual environments is fairly common and can make recovery complicated. PCS's programmers have developed groundbreaking methods to recover data from virtualized environments, including VMware, Citrix, Parallels, VirtualBox and Hyper-V.